Surrender: Appeasing Islam, Sacrificing Freedom
by Bruce Bawer
List Price:
Our Price: $1.98
You Save: $22.97 (92%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.67 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Bruce BawerEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-05-19
ISBN: 038552398X
Number of pages: 321
Publisher: Doubleday
Book Reviews of Surrender: Appeasing Islam, Sacrificing Freedom
Book Review: Pacifism über Alles!
Summary: 5 Stars
The USA has experienced 9/11 and Europe too has had its share of terrorism. Bawer goes back to the Salman Rushdie affair that erupted in 1989 to demonstrate how the West's capitulation began in our era. For the bigger picture he goes back even further, to a time when armies of desert tribes bearing a new religion burst out of the Arabian Peninsula to conquer the civilized world as far as Central Asia and Spain during its first expansion. Later waves led to the conquest of Hindustan, deep penetration into northern, western and eastern Africa and finally the subjugation of the Balkans.
The majority of the conquered peoples were converted by force or policies of oppression and discrimination (dhimmitude) except in the cases of Spain, India and the Balkans where the indigenous faiths stood their ground, eventually reasserting themselves through counterconquest or independence. In Africa, Christian Ethiopia was protected by geography and fierce defenders. Bawer shows how the crusades were a reaction to Islamic incursions and covers the USA's first ever overseas war, the one with the Barbary pirates in the early 1800s. Today, the target is the West's civil liberties of which free speech tops the list.
It's now clear that the Salman Rushdie affair exposed the cowardice of western leaders and intellectuals, introducing an era of intimidation aimed at undermining our basic freedoms. The triumph of multiculturalism & political correctness and the decline of Christianity in Europe handed the Islamists a 5th column, a weapon and a vacuum to fill. The consensus-über-alles European political & academic elites opted for appeasement. By now, this spirit of surrender has infected all aspects of European society including the courts, law enforcement and what remains of the mainstream Protestant churches of western and northern Europe.
Bawer devotes much energy to the cowardice of western media - especially the New York Times and BBC - that deny the threat by portraying radicals like Tariq Ramadan as moderates, by ignoring the treasonous statements of extremist clergy and all the while smearing those who dare speak out. Chronicling the crumbling resistance, he covers the murders of Pim Fortuyn in 2002, Theo van Gogh in 2004, the 2005 Danish cartoon controversy and the riotous reaction to a speech by Pope Benedict. As grand causes, the author diagnoses the horrors of WWII and the welfare state that followed as the breeding grounds of the pacifism-über-alles mentality which is leading to civilizational suicide.
The complicity of the media is established through hundreds of examples of underreporting, omission, silence & dissembling, every one backed up by verifiable sources and quotes. They refuse to admit the extent of e.g. honor killings & female circumcision in Europe, they obfuscate the nature of crimes and blur the identity of perpetrators and they deny that integration has utterly failed. In effect, two societies now exist in Europe: one of native Europeans & assimilated immigrants versus one of alienated, unassimilated populations in enclaves that are subject to Sharia law.
Trapped in wishful thinking, the media blame the messenger who increasingly risks prosecution under European speech codes. Bawer points out the deplorable slurs meted out to a brave defender of freedom like Ayaan Hirsi Ali. A favorite media tactic is to take recourse in moral equivalence with the mantra of "extremists on both sides," equating violent jihadis with their non-violent critics. The late Oriana Fallaci faced trial in Italy when she passed away in 2006 and in Canada, Mark Steyn & Ezra Levant only triumphed over state kommissars due to their spirited defense and public support. In America, the First Amendment still guards freedom of expression, for now.
Meanwhile reality -- unable to conform to the fantasies of the elites -- continues to assert itself. Despite generous welfare payments and the lavish funding of leaders & representatives, the hidden society promotes crime and is prone to ourbursts of nationwide violence as France learnt in 2005. This by the way, was initially ignored by the US media and when eventually reported, the euphemism "youths" was employed for the arsonists. Amsterdam that once prided itself on being the most tolerant city in Europe has become dangerous for gay people who are targets of this low-level Jihad. Yet the media still prefer discredited academics like Karen Armstrong and John Esposito over serious scholars such as Bat Ye'or, Robert Spencer, Ibn Warraq, Efraim Karsh and Andrew Bostom.
'Surrender' eloquently defends Enlightenment values as it attempts to rouse a comatose West. Besides the aforementioned observers, the alarm has also been sounded by Claire Berlinski, Theodore Dalrymple, Nonie Darwish, Brigitte Gabriel, David Horowitz, Caroline Glick, Melanie Phillips, Bruce Thornton, Phyllis Chesler, Walter Laqueur and Jamie Glazov to name a few. Let the author have the last say: "At least one thing seems certain: against people who are ready to die in the cause of destroying freedom, people who are not willing to speak up for freedom for fear of being called a racist or an Islamophobe don't stand much chance of victory."
Summary of Surrender: Appeasing Islam, Sacrificing Freedom
There is a new form of jihad to fear?one that threatens the very values on which our freedom rests
Bruce Bawer?s While Europe Slept sounded the alarm about the dire impact of Muslim immigration in Europe. Now, in Surrender, he reveals that a combination of fear and political correctness has led politicians, intellectuals, religious leaders, and the media?both in the United States and abroad?to appease radical Islam at the cost of our most cherished values: freedom of speech and freedom of the press. And the cost could ultimately be even higher?the imposition of sharia law in places where liberty once reigned.
In Surrender, Bawer writes of a new form of jihad that began with the fatwa against Salman Rushdie in 1989, a death sentence born of Muslim outrage over a work of literature. It marked the dawn of an era of pressure and intimidation designed to crush the ability of non-Muslims to resist Islamic encroachments on Western freedom. In a sweeping survey of recent history and current events, Bawer traces a pattern of heightened sensitivity to Muslim reactions and a reluctance to look honestly at the human-rights deficiencies of the Muslim world. This pattern can be seen in the widespread denunciation of the Danish cartoons and of the editors who printed them; in the glowing media coverage of the supposedly moderate Muslim icon Tariq Ramadan; in the decision of major newspapers to ignore or soft-pedal terrorist ?dry runs? on American airplanes; in the international uproar over a single sentence about Islam in a lecture by Pope Benedict; and in attempts by certain parties to silence criticism of Islam by suing writers who have dared to speak forthrightly about the religion.
Bawer argues that people throughout the Western world?in reaction to such events as the Danish cartoon riots and the murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh?are surrendering to fear. And he observes that Muslim extremists have found unexpected allies: non-Muslims who, motivated by the misguided doctrine of multiculturalism, refuse to criticize even the most illiberal aspects of Islamic culture. The resulting accommodation undermines the values of individual liberty and equality on which our nation was founded.
Fearless and excoriating, Surrender is an essential wake-up call for everyone concerned about the preservation of our most fundamental freedoms.
World Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in World Books
Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern Warby Mark Bowden
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2000-03-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.99
Price in other shops:
Denying the Holocaustby Deborah Lipstadt
Penguin Books; Published: 1995-03-02; Paperback; Book
Western Europe in the Middle Ages 300-1475by Brian Tierney, Sidney Painter
McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages; Published: 1998-08-21; Paperback; Book
Best price: $103.04
Corrections in the 21st Centuryby Frank Schmalleger, John Ortiz Smykla
McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages; Published: 2006-03-03; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $18.70
Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Mattersby Chesley B. Sullenberger, Jeffrey Zaslow
William Morrow; Published: 2009-10-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.99
Price in other shops:
Modern Times Revised Edition: The World from the Twenties to the Nineties (Perennial Classics)by Paul Johnson
Harper Collins Publishers; Harper Perennial Modern Classics; Published: 2001-08-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.92
Price in other shops:
A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocideby Samantha Power
Harper Perennial; Published: 2003-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.87
Price in other shops:
1421: The Year China Discovered Americaby Gavin Menzies
Harper Perennial; Published: 2004-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.00
Price in other shops:
"The Good Old Days"by Willi Dressen, Volker Riess
Free Press; Published: 1991-10-21; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $8.10
Price in other shops:
Wild Swansby Jung Chang
Harpercollins Audio; Published: 2004-06-07; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $15.84
Similar Books and other products
The Grand Jihad: How Islam and the Left Sabotage Americaby Andrew C McCarthy
Spring Arbor/Ingram; Encounter Books; Published: 2010-05-25; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.12
Price in other shops:
Reflections on the Revolution In Europe: Immigration, Islam, and the Westby Christopher Caldwell
Doubleday; Published: 2009-07-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.57
Price in other shops:
The Last Days of Europe: Epitaph for an Old Continentby Walter Laqueur
Thomas Dunne Books; Published: 2007-05-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $10.44
Price in other shops:
Londonistanby Melanie Phillips
Encounter Books; Published: 2006-05-08; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $1.48
Price in other shops:
The Complete Infidel's Guide to the Koranby Robert Spencer
Regnery Publishing; Published: 2009-09-21; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.24
Price in other shops:
While Europe Slept: How Radical Islam is Destroying the West from Withinby Bruce Bawer
Doubleday; Published: 2006-02-21; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.25
Price in other shops:
Lights Out: Islam, Free Speech And The Twilight Of The Westby Mark Steyn
Stockade Books; Published: 2009-04-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $28.95
After America: Get Ready for Armageddonby Mark Steyn
Regnery Publishing; Published: 2011-08-08; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.79
Price in other shops:
America Alone: The End of the World As We Know Itby Mark Steyn
Regnery Publishing; Published: 2008-04-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.24
Price in other shops:
While Europe Slept: How Radical Islam is Destroying the West from Withinby Bruce Bawer
Anchor; Published: 2007-09-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.30
Price in other shops: